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SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/aero-sts1-columbia

Which orbiter flew the first space shuttle mission in 1981?

Columbia, on April 12, 1981.

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  1. Columbia ✔
  2. Challenger
  3. Enterprise

Why: John Young and Robert Crippen flew Columbia on STS-1, launching April 12, 1981. Enterprise was a test vehicle that never went to space.

Huh, didn't know that: STS-1 launched exactly 20 years after Yuri Gagarin's first human spaceflight.

The dad joke
Why was Columbia so proud? It was the first to shuttle into history.
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References

Answer: Columbia. John Young and Robert Crippen flew Columbia on STS-1, launching April 12, 1981. Enterprise was a test vehicle that never went to space.

  1. NASA, STS-1 www.nasa.gov/mission/sts-1
    prime crewmen for the first flight in the Space Transportation System (STS-1) program
    Checked 2026-10-10.
  2. NASA, The Space Shuttle www.nasa.gov/space-shuttle
    From the first launch on April 12, 1981 to the final landing on July 21, 2011
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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